A Sandspur Hill Cracker Thanksgiving

By Ed Lisle


    Thanksgiving, a day of feasting on turkey ’n dressing, pumpkin pie, and cranberry relish.  A day set aside to give special thanks for good things.  A day for…(Hey, do any of y’all remember the song, ‘Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmothers House we Go?’  Grandpa lives there, too)…get together with family for the big meal.  Thanksgiving, that we can celebrate this year’s holiday without 2020’s threat of rampant COVID.
    Sure, we celebrate the special Thursday in November the traditional way.  We also give thanks every night at our house along with request of blessing for family, friends, and our troubled world.  More importantly, we always ask for forgiveness.  Today, I’ll offer a special Thanksgiving for hope, for things to come, maybe tomorrow.
    To be thankful for the morning when I turn on the TV and no one got shot in Orlando, for the day when you don’t see arms being stuck with needles on TV.  I’ll pray we don’t go into shock when “HE” blesses us with harmony among Democrats and Republicans.  A day of Thanksgiving when ‘Made in China’ is only on a fragile box of fine dinnerware.  When a day you can afford to eat bacon again.  At $10 a pound now, is kinda our fault.  Remember when you ate bacon at breakfast or on a B.L.T.?  It was ok with lettuce and tomato, but No, we had to start eating bacon with hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and even on a sandwich called ‘the baconator.’  By the way, if no one has ever said it before, let me be the first to start it, ‘bacon is a finger food.’
    There will be a great day of Thanksgiving when a family of four can visit Disney World for less than $600 a day.  That ain’t counting parking or food.  Maybe if they keep raising admission prices high enough, Disney can spring for a few dollars for Walt’s grandparents grave upkeep in the Ponceannah Cemetery in Paisley.  We will all be giving thanks when we hear laughter and cheerful noise coming from children playing outside instead of staring at a cell phone texting or whatever they get out of a computer screen all day.  There will be a prayer of thanks at a time when heroes are needed.  Last Thursday was Veterans Day and we offered a big shout out to all those who have served.  As a veteran myself, I saw a video last Sunday at church about a young woman who thanked a veteran for his service.  He summed all of us with “You’re welcome, you’re all worth it.”  A special prayer of thanks for friends and family who have passed but touched our lives in so many ways.
    Thanksgiving, we’ve filled our bellies and many of us are filling our time, dozing in front of the TV and the football game.  Some will be packing up to go home, me, I’ll still give thanks that we have survived another year without green bean casserole on our table, YUK!  Thanks that there will be plenty of turkey sandwiches to come and most thankful that I expect to see two or three slices of pumpkin and pecan pie in the fridge.
    Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!